I don't know if I can put this on but I just want to share this. This short movie won the Best Short Animation at the Oscars last Sunday. The french title interested me but it is actually made by the Japanese.
At first the world was a flat land, trees were tall and the houses were short. As soon as the couple got married, the sea level started rising. The water eventually flooded the whole floor and the couple had to build another one on top of the original with bricks and move every piece of furniture to the upper floor. Through their lives together they had a little girl, who grew up under their protection and love. Then the girl grew up and left the family for the adventures of the outside world. She came back with a boyfriend, then they got married and started their own family. The old couple then lived on their own. The man took care of his wife and in the end, she passed away. The lonely man lived by himself. All the while the water kept rising, and more levels had to be built upon another.
Here are little things that I noticed from the movie. The water represents time, and each floor (cube) represents a phase in life. The fact that each level is smaller than the previous one suggests that compromise has to be made in order to move on in life. Things must be given up, slowly. In the end of one's life, there's nothing left but a wall full of pictures, memories. To me, here are a few things that can be inferred from the movie.
a) Starting a family is the start of a long period of compromise of no going back. b) There are no longer trees to play around after getting married, but a warm house to be in. c) One must make passive adaptations to the slow but powerful changes of life. d) No matter how bad your life is, you cannot really start elsewhere but to build upon the things that you possess. Your history shapes you. You can only start with this much, and will only have even less as time flies by.
I do not know why these Japanese would pick a french theme for this movie. The recipient of the award clearly does not speak english well, and I don't think he can speak good french either. However, they made me think of the most quoted french saying of all times, "c'est la vie."
February 14th is important just like any other day. It is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar and marks the halfway of the month. There are 320 days remaining until the end of the year (321 in leap years).
842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages. This led to the creation of the earliest written evidence of French.
1317 - Marguerite of France, queen of Edward I of England (b. 1282), died.
1778 - The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
1849 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
1855 - Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
1859 - Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
1912 - Arizona is admitted as the 48th U.S. state.
1924 - The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is founded.
1942 - Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, was born.
1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially starting the U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relationship.
1962 - First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.
1989 - The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit.
2005 - Lebanon's former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, is assassinated, prompting the country to fall into chaos.
I don't know how everyone keeps their birthday cards over the years, or ever keeps them at all. But I have a big pink plastic bag where I keep all the letters, birthday cards, gifts, things that record my life.
Not wanting to work or do anything, I started looking at stuff in that bag. Letters from best friends, not so best friends, people I know, Christmas cards birthday cards, just randomly taking things out.
Everything is so sincere, friendly warm, and sweet. I feel loved, and also guilty for not showing my love to them as much. They remind me of so much from the past. Comforted, and sad, and contented, I went through the collection. It was a very strange experience. Confessions, advices, a lost friend.
You can do so much damage to a person, and you can also mean a lot to them. It is really frustrating that you cannot do anything to the past (I know this is cliché but ya). You want to tell people that you have changed over the years and you really want to do something for them, but the truth is they no longer are accessible, or simply don't want to talk to you again.
A lot has happened, and I learned how to laugh at myself. When you can do nothing with it, just make fun of it. You can laugh about what you did, and what happened afterwards. It's a joke, don't you agree? It seemed the right thing to do at that time, and you felt like it. And then it turned ugly and you really couldn't reverse the consequences. You don't have the power. And all is left for you to do is to face it and laugh about the way life works.
Personality is influential when it comes to life. Life is NOT about choices. One of the options usually stands out because you feel like it. And that's because you have a set of personalities. And you choose, seemingly deliberately, how to act. What I think is it's personality-driven. I am not saying that my life would have been better if I had a different set of personalities, though. But just a thought.
So yea, I somewhat believe in pre-determination. And I am curious what's in store for me in the future. I thank everyone for being there for me, truly.
"A man's character is his fate." — Heraclites, Greek philosopher (c. 540-c. 475 B.C.)
MISS MAYBELLE There's a light In the darkness Though the night Is black as my skin There's a light Burning bright Showing me the way But i know where i've been
There's a cry In the distance It's a voice That comes from deep within There's a cry Asking why I pray the answer's up ahead 'Cause i know where i've been
There's a road We've been travelin' Lost so many on the way But the riches Will be plenty Worth the price we Had to pay
There's a dream In the future There's a struggle That we have yet to win And there's pride In my heart 'Cause i know Where i'm going And i know where i've been
MISS MAYBELLE & ENSEMBLE There's a road We must travel There's a promise We must make 'Cause the riches Will be plenty Worth the risk And chances that we take There's a dream In the future There's a struggle
We have yet to win Use that pride In our hearts To lift us up Until tomorrow
'Cause just to sit still Would be a sin
ENSEMBLE I know it, i know it I know where i'm going
MOTORMOUTH And lord knows i know.. Where i've been
MOTORMOUTH & ENSEMBLE Oh! When we win, I'll give thanks to my god 'Cause i know where i've been
